PRO FOOTBALL—In the NFL season's opening week, the Cowboys defeated the Chargers 17-14 to end a 14-game home losing streak. Troy Aikman of Dallas threw for 193 yards and a touchdown and got the deciding TD on a one-yard plunge with two minutes to play. The Raiders scored on cornerback Terry McDaniel's 42-yard fumble return and linebacker Jerry Robinson's five-yard runback of an intercepted John Elway pass as Los Angeles beat the Broncos 14-9. The Dolphins rallied behind Sammie Smith's 159 yards rushing to overcome a 15-point deficit and defeat the Patriots 27-24. Jim Kelly passed for 283 yards and a touchdown as the Bills knocked off the Colts 26-10. The Bears won their seventh consecutive season opener, hammering the Seahawks 17-0. Chicago was led by a reinvigorated defense that allowed Seattle's run-and-shoot offense only 132 total yards. The Bears sacked the Seahawks' Dave Krieg twice during the day's first offensive series and later turned a pair of interceptions into scores. In other games, the Browns defeated the Steelers 13-3; the Chiefs edged the Vikings 24-21; the Redskins crushed the Cardinals 31-0; the Bengals slipped by the Jets 25-20; the Packers held off the Rams 36-24; the Buccaneers beat the Lions 38-21; the Giants set back the Eagles 27-20 (page 30); and the Falcons opened the Jerry Glanville era by overwhelming his former team, the Oilers, 47-27 (page 38).

GOLF—JOEY SINDELAR parred the first hole of sudden death to beat Willie Wood and win a PGA Tour event in Coal Valley, Ill. Sindelar, who like Wood shot a 12-under-par 268 for the tournament, earned $180,000.

Rives McBee had a 15-under-par 201 for 54 holes to defeat Mike Hill by four strokes and win a PGA Senior tournament in Lexington, Ky. McBee's victory was worth $45,000.

Patty Sheehan made a 20-foot putt for birdie on the final hole to defeat Danielle Ammaccapane by one stroke and win an LPGA tour event in Portland, Ore. Sheehan finished with an eight-under-par 208 and collected $52,500.

Peter Senior shot a final-round four-under-par 66 to beat Ian Woosnam by one stroke and win the European Open, in Sunningdale, England. Senior, who had a 13-under-par 267 for the tournament, took home $126,654.

HARNESS RACING—LEXIE ($2.40), driven by Abe Stoltzfus, beat Chestnut Road by four lengths to win the second division of the H H Shadow Pace, at Yonkers Raceway. The 2-year-old filly covered the mile in 1:59[2/5] and earned $31,656.

Jake and Elwood ($4.80), with John Campbell in the sulky, defeated Beach Towel by 1½ lengths to win the Messenger Stake, at Rosecroft Raceway. The 3-year-old colt paced the mile in 1:52[3/5] and took home $155,530.

HORSE RACING—TIMELY WARNING ($3.40), ridden by Craig Perret, defeated stablemate Master Speaker by a length to win the Maryland Classic, at Pimlico. The 5-year-old horse ran the 1¼ miles in 2:02[1/5] and earned $120,000.

Degenerate Gal ($11), Randy Romero up, led from wire to wire to beat Evangelical by three quarters of a length and win the Matron Stakes and $48,555, at Arlington International Racecourse. The 5-year-old mare covered the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:49[1/5].

Laugh and Be Merry ($4.20), with Herb McCauley in the saddle, held off a strong charge by Foresta to win the Flower Bowl Handicap by a half length, at Belmont. The 5-year-old mare ran the 1¼-mile turf course in 2:00[1/5] and collected $78,840.

Dale Earnhardt, in a Chevrolet Lumina, beat Mark Martin, in a Ford Thunderbird, by .43 of a second to win a NASCAR event and $59,225 in Richmond. Earnhardt averaged 95.567 mph over 400 laps of the three-quarter-mile Richmond International Raceway oval.

TENNIS—At the U.S. Open in New York City, PETE SAMPRAS won the men's title by defeating Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, and GABRIELA SABATINI beat Steffi Graf 6-2, 7-6 in the women's final. In doubles, MARTINA NAVRATILOVA and GIGI FERNANDEZ won the women's competition 6-2, 6-4 over Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova; PIETER ALDRICH and DANIE VISSER defeated Paul Annacone and David Wheaton 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 for the men's crown; and ELIZABETH SMYLIE and TODD WOODBRIDGE knocked off Natalia Zvereva and Jim Pugh 6-4, 6-2 to win the mixed title (page 22).

WRESTLING—JOHN SMITH of the United States defeated Rousen Vassilev of Bulgaria 10-0 to win the 136.5-pound title and a world-level crown for the fourth straight year, at the world freestyle championships, in Tokyo. In team competition, the SOVIET UNION finished first with four gold medals. The U.S. was second.

MILEPOSTS—DISMISSED: By the LPGA, commissioner WILLIAM A. BLUE, 50, after less than two years in the position. The interim executive director is JIM WEBB, 42, who had been LPGA vice-president of operations.

FIRED: As coach of the Denver Nuggets, DOUG MOE, 51, who had a 432-357 record in his 10 seasons with the Nuggets and twice guided them to Midwest Division titles. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1987-88. Moe will be replaced by former Loyola Marymount coach PAUL WESTHEAD, 51.

NAMED: As basketball coach at Miami (Ohio) University, JOBY WRIGHT, 40, who had been an assistant at Indiana for the past 10 seasons; as basketball coach at Loyola Marymount, JAY HILLOCK, 41, who had been a Lion assistant coach for the past five seasons.

SOLD: PEBBLE BEACH CO., whose holdings include the Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the 1972, '82 and '92 U.S. Opens, to the Ben Hogan Property Co., an affiliate of Cosmo World Corp. of Tokyo, for between $800 million and $1 billion (page 17).

TRADED: By the Atlanta Falcons, nosetackle SHAWN LEE, 23, to the Miami Dolphins for an undisclosed draft choice in 1991; by the Los Angeles Raiders, offensive lineman JOHN GESEK, 27, to the Dallas Cowboys for an undisclosed draft choice; by the Houston Oilers, running back ALONZO HIGH-SMITH, 25, also to the Cowboys, for undisclosed draft choices; and by the New York Jets, running back ROGER VICK, 26, to the Philadelphia Eagles, also for undisclosed draft choices.

By the Montreal Canadiens, right wing CLAUDE LEMIEUX, 25, to the New Jersey Devils for left wing SYLVAIN TURGEON, 25; and by the Winnipeg Jets, forward BOB BROOKE, 29, also to the Devils, for center LAURIE BOSCHMAN, 30.

Before he became the premier postseason performer of his generation, the Patriots icon was a middling college quarterback who invited skepticism, even scorn, from fans and his coaches. That was all—and that was everything